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| Deutsche Post World Net: a sign of Canadian patronage? |
Deutsche Post AG
applied to register the trade-mark DEUTSCHE POST WORLD NET in Canada in respect of a wide range of wares and services, based on proposed use in Canada and use and registration of the mark in Germany.
Canada Post, a Canadian Crown corporation, opposed on a variety of grounds. The Trade-Marks Opposition Board
held that there was no likelihood of confusion between the mark in question and any of the opponent’s registered marks, essentially because Canadians are not so parochial as to think that Deutsche Post is operated by Canada Post. However, Canada Post also appealed to section 9(1)(d) of the Canadian Act, which prohibits marks likely to lead to the belief that the wares in question are sold under Canadian government patronage. The Board held that in Canadian law, the test under this provision was not confusion; the mere suggestion of government patronage – that is, patronage of Canada Post – was enough. Accordingly, the opposition was successful, at least in respect of those wares and services that were also provided by Canada Post.
Even if the test is suggestion, rather than confusion, this Kat fails to see how DEUTSCHE POST could suggest Canadian government patronage to a person of average intelligence, even the notional "ordinary hurried purchasers." More generally, it is disappointing to see IP law successfully invoked when one party is not trading on the reputation of another. It is this kind of use (abuse, says Merpel), that gives IP law a bad name.
